


Making Amends

by MicrosuedeMouse



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Apologies, F/M, Forgiveness, Friendship, Gen, Making Up, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25296733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MicrosuedeMouse/pseuds/MicrosuedeMouse
Summary: It's been almost five years since Jeff Winger made a mess of things and burned all his bridges. Today he's going to swallow his pride and apologise.Things changed while he wasn't looking.
Relationships: Abed Nadir & Jeff Winger, Annie Edison & Jeff Winger, Annie Edison/Abed Nadir, past Annie Edison/Jeff Winger
Comments: 8
Kudos: 114





	Making Amends

**Author's Note:**

> Had this basically finished ages ago but I didn't want to post two 'Jeff kinda sucks' fics in a row, lol. I actually don't hate him! I just... think the idea of past Jeff/Annie (that ended badly) has good story potential, haha.
> 
> Anyway. Enjoy.

“Hi there! How can I help you?”

Jeff turned on his usual charming smile for the young receptionist, leaning one elbow on the desk. “I’m looking for Agent Edison,” he told her.

The woman frowned slightly, looking puzzled. “I’m sorry?” she asked, and the way she tipped her head he wondered if she just hadn’t quite heard him.

“Special Agent Annie Edison,” he clarified, a little louder. “Recently got her own office, I heard?”

The receptionist’s face cleared, and she nodded. “Right! Of course, I’m sorry. Do you have an appointment?”

“No, I’m afraid not,” he admitted, shaking his head. He dialed his smile up a little, figuring it couldn’t hurt. “I’m an old friend – happened to be in town and thought I’d drop by. As a surprise.”

“Oh, that’s lovely,” she said with a nod. “Just give me a moment to check that she’s available to see you. Can I get your name?”

“Jeff Winger.”

Jeff stood there, leaning on the desk and looking around the lobby, as the receptionist dashed through a set of glass doors and into the offices. It was calmer than he’d always imagined an FBI office would be, but then, he supposed this wasn’t the major crimes unit or anything. Mentally, he ran back through what he was going to say as he stared into the leaves of a potted ficus.

“She’s free!” Jeff looked up to see the receptionist giving him a friendly smile. She offered him a visitor badge, which he clipped to his jacket, and then she waved him through the doors and into the office. They walked through a quiet bullpen and up a small set of stairs to a raised walkway on the far side of the space, and she led him to an open door. “Right this way, Mr. Winger.”

“Thanks so much,” he told her with one more big smile. Then, as she nodded and headed back to her office, he squared his shoulders and turned into the room, his smile more genuine now, though not quite as enthusiastic. It might even have been a little uncertain.

“Hey, stranger,” Annie said with a gentle smile of her own. She was sitting behind a big wooden desk – the nice kind that he’d had once, a lifetime ago – and didn’t move to get up. He supposed he deserved that. But her friendly expression was sincere as she waved him in and gestured at the chairs across from her, and that heartened him somewhat. “Come on in, have a seat.”

“Fancy office,” he commented, grinning as he accepted the invitation. He glanced around – the walls had photos of her shaking hands with important people or smiling with her colleagues, and framed copies of both of her Greendale degrees and various awards and accolades. Her desk was covered in files and paperwork, all sorted into impeccable stacks with colour-coded paper clips. “This is – it’s amazing, Annie. Congratulations. You deserve this. I mean it.”

“Thank you.” She leaned forward on the desk a bit. “What brings you to Los Angeles, Jeff? I know you’re not here just to see my new digs.” Her blue eyes searched his face, curious.

“No, you’re right. I’m in town for a conference. Craig got a little extra money from the board this year to send teachers out on training things, and y’know… he gave me first pick. You know how he is.” He glanced down for a second, swallowing, and braced his hands against his knees before he met her eye again. “Annie, listen, I… I wanted to come talk to you. I’ve been trying to figure out what to say to you for ages, but it was easy to put off when we were states apart. When I saw there was a conference available in LA, I figured it was a sign that it was time.”

Her smile was a little sad. “Time for what, Jeff?”

“Time to… apologise.” He took a deep breath and put his hands on the desk. “I’m _sorry_. I genuinely am. For everything that happened between– well. Everything that _I did._ The way it ended. I wasn’t fair to you, and you deserved better than that. I… screwed up a lot of things that year, and not just with you, but you deserve the biggest apology. And the first one.”

“It’s okay, Jeff.”

“It’s… not, really,” he said with a grimace. “I mean, you’ve got every right not to forgive me.”

Annie’s smile grew a little, though her brows were still furrowed. “But it _is_ okay,” she insisted. “I mean – it’s true. You messed up, and you really hurt me. But it’s in the past. I put it behind me _years_ ago. I think what we had… had to end, one way or another.” She leaned forward, reaching across the table to squeeze his fingers quickly. She didn’t linger more than a second. “I was really young, and still figuring a lot out. It might have been messy, but it did me a lot of good in the end. I forgave you long before you walked in here today. In fact, there’ve been times I wanted to _thank_ you. I’ve grown a lot.”

“I’m… glad to hear that, I guess,” he answered, swallowing drily. “I mean, I still wish I could take it all back, do it _differently_ , but. I’m glad you’re doing so well.”

She watched him for a second, and suddenly Jeff felt like she was seeing straight through him, far better than she ever could before. “What about you?” she asked after a moment. “How are _you_ doing?”

“I’m… all right,” he answered slowly. “I, uh… actually, could I take you to lunch, or something?” He caught the odd look she gave him at that, and he straightened up, waving one hand in the air. “No no, sorry, not like that. I just meant, like, to catch up. I– jeez. I definitely don’t expect you to take me back or anything. God no.”

“Take–” Annie paused, biting her lip and frowning a little. “Jeff, you… didn’t look at the name on my office door when you came in, did you.” It was half a question, half a realisation.

He blinked. “No?” Something in her face turned sympathetic, or maybe a little guilty; he couldn’t quite decide. Confused, he turned around in his chair to look back at the door, still hanging open.

 _Special Agent Annie Nadir_ , read the shiny nameplate.

He stared at it for a moment, stunned, like maybe the letters would rearrange themselves into something that made more sense. When they didn’t, he turned back to her, momentarily speechless. “I…” He closed his mouth, tried for a moment to reorder his thoughts, and then managed to stammer, “Since when?”

“This part?” Annie held up her left hand and twisted the modest ring with the pad of her thumb. “About eight months. The whole thing… since a few months after you left.” She bit her lip again, her expression complicated. It was like she felt bad, but she was also starting to smile, and trying to hide it because it made her feel even guiltier.

“I… didn’t know,” he answered, already aware how dumb that would sound.

“I gathered that,” she said, nodding. Now she looked apologetic. “Listen, Jeff, I’m really sorry. It’s not that we left you out as a slight. It actually ended up being a really small ceremony; my _parents_ weren’t even there–”

“No, Annie, you have nothing to apologise for,” he told her with a sigh, shaking his head. “I’m the one who took off on you, and who… basically exiled myself from the group. I was an ass, and I got what I deserved. This just… took me by surprise, somehow.”

“I didn’t realise you hadn’t heard,” she said quietly. “I figured you’d have found out somehow – from Britta’s or Troy’s Instagrams, or through Frankie, or something. Greendale’s such a grapevine I just assumed the gossip would’ve made its way back there in no time.”

“I’m kind of impressed it didn’t,” Jeff admitted. He took another deep breath, trying to absorb all this new information at once. Finally, putting a smile back on, he teased, “Small ceremony, eh? What happened to that giant scrapbook of wedding ideas you had once upon a time?”

She grinned sheepishly. “I dunno. We just kind of went with… what felt right.” Her smile gentle now, sweet, she reached for a picture frame on her desk and passed it to him. There she was in her dress on the steps out front of a building he didn’t recognise, a bouquet of yellow and pink clutched in her hands, and next to her was Abed, looking smart in a deep grey suit with a yellow tie. Seeing the way they were smiling at each other in the photo, and then looking up at the way Annie was biting back a smile now, Jeff couldn’t help grinning a bit himself. “You look happy,” he said as he handed the photo back.

“We are.” She tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear. “It was… a really good day. Britta did a lot of the preparations, kind of like she did for Shirley and Andre back at Greendale. Shirley was there too, of course, and she brought Ben with her. And Troy was there, obviously. Aside from them it was my Bubbe, Anthony, and Gubi. Elroy and Frankie and Hickey all sent gifts. Like I said… pretty small.”

“That sounds nice.” He sat back in his chair a bit. “God, Troy must have cried.”

“Like a baby,” Annie giggled. “He also insisted on paying for our honeymoon as a wedding gift. It was really lovely, actually.”

He nodded slowly, still digesting. As bizarre as all of this seemed, he supposed it _had_ been nearly five years since he’d spoken to the rest of the study group. A lot could change in that time. And really… all of this _did_ kind of make sense, in a strange way. “How _is_ Abed, then?” he asked, almost an afterthought.

“He’s good. Work has been going really well the last couple months, and he’s almost finished editing a short film he wants to submit to some of the big festivals this year.” She grinned, folding her hands against her stomach and wiggling her fingers slightly. “You know, lots of… projects… in the works…”

Jeff blinked, and then he sat forward, eyebrows raised high. “You’re kidding me.”

“Hm?” She sucked her lips in and turned her gaze to the ceiling, trying to look innocent, but she was failing miserably.

“Annie.” He tipped his head forward, looking at her hard. “Don’t joke about this. Are you actually-?”

And then she broke out grinning again, even more widely than before. “You can’t tell a _soul,_ ” she told him. “Abed doesn’t know yet. I was just gonna _burst_ if I didn’t tell somebody soon. You basically just walked in at the right time. If you hadn’t shown up when you did it was gonna be the guy who delivers all the mail.”

Jeff laughed. “Holy shit,” he said, sitting back again. Then, catching the look she was giving him, he raised his hands. “I won’t say a word. I promise. Who would I even tell?”

She giggled again. “I can’t wait to tell him. I just have to find the right time. I don’t want to interrupt him when he’s deep in creative mode, you know?”

“Of course.” He nodded, taking her in for a moment. She was… glowing. Thriving, really. And he found himself genuinely grateful to know that. There’d been a time when he wouldn’t have handled it so well, but now he was truly happy for her. “Congratulations, Annie,” he told her earnestly. “It looks like you’ve done really well for yourself. You deserve it.”

“Thank you, Jeff.” She smiled back at him for a second before glancing at the clock on the wall. “Oh, gosh, it’s almost twelve-thirty already – listen, I already have plans for lunch today, but… how long are you in town? Maybe we can catch up more another day?”

“I fly back to Denver tomorrow afternoon, I’m afraid,” he told her, twisting his lips apologetically. “But… this has been really nice.”

“Yeah. I’m really glad you dropped in,” Annie answered, looking a little disappointed. “Maybe another time. I’ll give you a shout the next time I’m in Colorado?”

“That would be great,” he told her, sincerely. He levered himself up out of the chair. “I, uh… _I’m_ really glad I came, too. Thank you for seeing me.”

“Of course.” This time she did get up, coming around the side of her desk. “I’d like to be friends again, Jeff. I really mean that.” She opened her arms, raising her eyebrows in a silent question.

“I’d like that too,” he said quietly, and then he accepted the invitation and stepped in for a hug. It was warm and familiar and he breathed a tiny sigh of relief. It had been way too long, and he was way too lucky that she’d forgiven him so easily. “I’ll walk myself out. Have a good one, Annie.”

“You too.”

And that was that.

Jeff tucked his hands into his pockets as he strolled back towards the lobby, so lost in thought he didn’t even register the people he walked past. But a little before he reached the glass doors again, another familiar voice said his name.

“Jeffery.”

He looked up in to see Abed regarding him with raised eyebrows, apparently as surprised to see Jeff as Jeff was to see him. He looked just the same as he always had, a colourful flannel shirt layered over a graphic tee, car keys and an Inspector Spacetime keychain hanging from one hand. A visitor badge was fixed crookedly between two of the buttons on his flannel.

“Oh. Uh.” Jeff tried to smile, but it came out a lot more awkwardly than usual. “Hey, man. Long time no see.”

Abed tipped his head to one side, assessing him, and then smiled slightly in return. “Annie forgave you ages ago. So I did too,” he said, which Jeff took to mean there was no bad blood between them. Frankly it was better than he deserved, but it was a relief all the same.

“I… Thanks, Abed.” His smile relaxed a bit, and he took a step closer, into a friendlier speaking distance. “Annie and I just had that conversation, actually.”

“Oh, you saw her?” Abed lit up a little. “The new office is great, right?”

“It is.” Jeff nodded, a bit amused. Same as ever, indeed. “Listen, man… I’m sorry. I really am. And… congratulations. I’m honestly really happy for you guys.” Another step and he was able to reach out and put a hand on Abed’s shoulder, give him a friendly pat and a squeeze.

“Thanks.” Abed’s smile was as genuine as Jeff had ever seen it.

“I’ll see you around, Abed.” One more pat and then he let go, once again headed for the lobby doors. With his fingers around the handle, he paused and glanced back. Abed reached Annie’s office door and smiled widely, and then Annie appeared and put her arms around his neck and kissed him, barely holding in a grin of her own. They looked good together, Jeff realised. They looked really, genuinely in love.

He smiled, only a little wistfully, and let himself out.

Down the hall from the lobby, he was still smiling a bit as he waited for the elevator. The number indicator overhead dinged as the elevator drew closer, but just before it reached him, he heard his name yet again.

“Jeff! Hang on!”

He looked up, wondering how many times he could be stopped just trying to get out of this building. Annie and Abed were coming down the hall now, holding hands, Annie waving at him.

“What now?” he chuckled, turning towards them. “I’ve got a seminar on how to use a laser pointer more effectively in like an hour and a half, you know.”

“I _told_ you that teaching conference was weird,” Abed said, glancing at Annie. “What could teachers possibly have to talk about that they need a whole _conference?_ ”

“Oh, shush,” she told him playfully, before turning back to Jeff. “Listen, we were just talking, and – do you wanna join us for lunch? Since you’re only in town until tomorrow, and everything.” She smiled brightly. “You know. To catch up.”

He looked at her for a moment, and then at the elevator as the doors opened in front of him. Someone got out and shuffled past, and then Jeff reached out to hold the door. “Lead the way,” he said, waving Annie and Abed in ahead of him.

“Yay!” Annie bounced on the balls of her feet before tugging Abed into the elevator after her. He gave Jeff an amused look on his way past, eyebrows raised high, and Jeff could only laugh.

This wasn’t how he’d seen the afternoon going. Even if Annie hadn’t wanted to take him back – and his ego had been beaten down enough for him to admit that she would have been well within her rights not to – he’d assumed that if she was willing to talk to him at all, it would be teary and emotional and she might have softened a little at his heartfelt apology, the way she always used to. There’d be one of those moments where she realised she’d never truly be immune to him, and he would’ve been able to see it on her face and feel guilty about it but also a little comforted in the knowledge that someone as good as Annie still cared about him, and that meant he wasn’t a lost cause.

He _certainly_ hadn’t expected to find her clearly head over heels in love with someone else – and of all people, _Abed_. And Abed, the boy he’d once thought of as a robot, obviously completely in love with her too. But in a way, it made sense. And more importantly, it felt good. Two people he cared a lot about, even if he hadn’t always done right by them, were making each other happy. And it made him happy to see.

“So where are we eating?” he asked, smiling, as the elevator doors slid shut.


End file.
